It wasn’t easy, but the #36 au TOM’S Toyota GR Supra of Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata weathered the literal downpour of sudden rain in the closing stages of Sunday’s SUPER GT Motegi GT 300km Race Grand Final to win the last race of the 2023 season.
In doing so, they clinched a landmark GT500 Championship, as Miyata became just the fifth driver to win both the SUPER GT GT500 Drivers’ Championship and the Super Formula Drivers’ Championship in the same year – and at age 24, he became the youngest “Double Champion” of Japan.
For the 13th time since 2009, Mobility Resort Motegi was the site of SUPER GT’s championship finale. Success Weight was no longer a factor, and temperatures were quite high for the first week of November. In the days leading up to Sunday’s 63-lap race, rain wasn’t expected to be a factor on Sunday – but as the start drew closer, dark clouds began to pop up in the distance over the circuit.
Katsumasa Chiyo started the race from pole position in his #3 Niterra Motul Nissan Z. Last year’s championship runner-up was trying to atone for a costly collision in the opening laps of last year’s race. Nobuharu Matsushita started second in the #17 Astemo Honda NSX-GT, and Sho Tsuboi lined up third in the #36 au TOM’S GR Supra. In these positions, Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi would win the championship. But even as Chiyo drove out to an early lead, there were 62 more laps still to run.
Tsuboi had to get past Matsushita to move into a championship-winning second position and was trying to move forward from the first corner. Then, as the GT500 leaders began to encounter GT300 traffic, heavy sun showers began to fall over the front stretch and the west end of the circuit. Not enough for slick tyres, but enough to keep the pilots of these GT500 cars alert.
The sun burst through the clouds again, and Chiyo was already around three seconds ahead of Matsushita and Tsuboi, who were now running tail-to-nose. They continued their pursuit for over 20 laps as Chiyo stretched the advantage out to over five seconds.
On lap 23, Tsuboi got a strong run out of turn two which allowed him to draw alongside Matsushita. The two ran side-by-side, wheel-to-wheel, for half a lap, before Tsuboi finally got the advantage he wanted through the inside of the V-Corner, and then through the Hairpin Corner.
Tsuboi had now put his team in the position that TOM’S needed to win the championship as the race reached one-third distance, and teams began to make their routine pit stops.
Unlike last year, when Chiyo had to fight through the pack, he ran a perfect opening stint from the front of the field. Chiyo brought the Niterra Z in on lap 25, where Takaboshi took over to the finish.
A lap later, Tsuboi brought the au TOM’S Supra in from second place. A blistering in-lap and perfect work from the TOM’S crew helped hand the car off to Miyata with plenty of distance between himself and the Astemo NSX of Koudai Tsukakoshi, and only the Niterra Z of Takaboshi in front of him.
With just a handful of cars running long first stints, the Niterra Z was still in a comfortable net lead, but the au TOM’S Supra was still in net second. Meanwhile, the #23 Motul Autech Z of Tsugio Matsuda had jumped up to third after pit stops, going ahead of Tsukakoshi. Ideally, Matsuda would be behind Miyata to try and help Takaboshi’s championship bid, but the Motul Z was over ten seconds back, not close enough to make a move. Overtaking was at a premium and the only variable to consider was the weather.
With 20 laps to go, the race’s first Full Course Yellow came out when the #64 Modulo NSX-GT of Kakunoshin Ohta crashed into the GT300 class #360 RunUp Rivaux Nissan GT-R GT3 of Takayuki Aoki. It was a stark fall to earth after Ohta won the second race of the JAF Grand Prix at Suzuka for his first career Super Formula win.
When racing resumed, there was no immediate change in the running order. Yet soon, the rain that had been drifting in and out returned, and much harder this time with ten laps remaining.
Some teams had to make a difficult decision: Come in for wet tyres and concede track position with no guarantee that the rain would persist to the end, or stay out and risk throwing the car off the road? Takaboshi and NDDP Racing elected to stay out, so too did Miyata and TGR Team au TOM’S.
Then, with five laps remaining and the rain still falling, Takaboshi’s luck ran out. He spun off at the S-Curves, beaching his Niterra Z in the gravel and ending Nissan and NDDP’s challenge for the championship.
After a brief Full Course Yellow, the only question that remained was if the same misfortune would fall upon the new race leader Miyata. It did not. The young man who had won the Super Formula title over the likes of F1-bound Liam Lawson and Honda ace Tomoki Nojiri, would keep his composure and take the chequered flag to wrap up the GT500 Championship in fine style.
For Tsuboi, this was his second GT500 crown, each of them won at the wheel of the flagship number 36 TOM’S Supra. For TOM’S, this was their sixth GT500 Drivers’ Championship (1997, 2006, 2009, 2017, 2021) and ninth GT500 Teams’ Championship (’97, ’99, ’06, ’08, ’09, ’17, ’19, ’21).
Toyota won its 12th GT500 Drivers’ title and 11th Teams’ title, and second in three years with the third-generation GR Supra.
And of course, there was Miyata, the winner of his first GT500 Championship and the newest undisputed champion of Japanese professional motorsport.
Also, Tsuboi and Miyata got their third win of the season: They became the first GT500 pair in 12 years to win three races in a season, and won the championship by a record final margin of 26 points!
Matsuda held off the challenge of Tsukakoshi in the closing stages to help salvage some dignity for Nissan and NISMO. The #23 Motul Z finished in second place, five seconds behind the #36 au Supra.
This gave Michelin a podium in the French tyre maker’s last race supplying tyres to GT500. With NISMO and the now-defunct MOLA teams, Michelin won four GT500 Championships from 2011 to 2015, with Quintarelli at the wheel for all of them.
Matsuda also made some history of his own, becoming the first GT500 driver to reach 50 career podiums – with Quintarelli not far behind on 44. It’s unclear if this was the last time we’ll see Matsuda and Quintarelli race together in the flagship number 23 Nissan, but after salvaging third in the table to end the season, it’s clear that both legends still have what it takes to succeed at this level.
One of the teams that gambled on a change to wets was Astemo Real Racing, who brought Tsukakoshi in with six laps to go. Tsukakoshi’s pace on the wet-weather Bridgestones was good, but there wasn’t enough time for him to run down a 45-second deficit to the leader.
However, Tsukakoshi did climb back up to third place with three laps remaining to give the Astemo NSX a podium – and a very special podium at that.
After ten years, the second-generation Honda NSX got a podium in its final race. This brings an end to the NSX’s combined 24-year run in GT500, and likely for good. Next year, the new Civic Type R-GT will represent Honda in the premier class, and this passing of eras was celebrated before the race as the new Civic Type R-GT test car ran alongside the first championship-winning NSX (Ryo Michigami’s 2000 Castrol Mugen NSX) and the current crop of Honda challengers.
The championship reign of the #1 Marelli Impul Z (Kazuki Hiramine/Bertrand Baguette) ended with a fourth-place run, followed by the #8 ARTA Mugen NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Toshiki Oyu). After getting spun out earlier in the race, the #14 Eneos X Prime GR Supra (Kazuya Oshima/Kenta Yamashita) somehow salvaged sixth place despite making two stops. The #39 Denso Kobelco SARD GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi/Yuichi Nakayama) got seventh thanks to some impressive and aggressive driving from Sekiguchi in his opening stint.
In eighth was the #19 WedsSport Advan GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto/Sena Sakaguchi), followed by the #37 Deloitte TOM’S GR Supra (Ukyo Sasahara/Giuliano Alesi). After serving a drive-through penalty for colliding with the Eneos Supra early on, Iori Kimura and Tadasuke Makino recovered to finish tenth in the #100 Stanley NSX-GT.
Just 2.2 seconds short of the points was the #38 ZENT Cerumo GR Supra of three-time GT500 Champion, Yuji Tachikawa, and co-driver Hiroaki Ishiura. Team Cerumo decided to give Tachikawa the second stint of the race for him to be in the car at the end of his 214th and final SUPER GT race.
He battled hard with the likes of ARTA’s Nirei Fukuzumi, and Sakaguchi, his likely successor in the number 38 car. But he tumbled from ninth late in the race to finish 11th.
Tachikawa’s incredible 27-year driving career – of which the last 25 were spent as the ace or ace-in-waiting at Toyota Team Cerumo – was honoured on Saturday morning with a retirement ceremony, and after the race, many drivers came to him to shake hands and embrace the legend.
And while Tachikawa didn’t have a chance to add to his 19 wins, 24 pole positions, 47 podiums, or 1,264 and a half points, the fact that the fans in attendance had a proper chance to bid farewell to one of the greatest drivers in the history Japanese motorsport was very much appreciated by everyone – surely, even the most hardened Toyota detractors would agree.
Honda’s sole title challenger, the #16 ARTA Mugen NSX-GT of Fukuzumi and Hiroki Otsu slumped mightily from Qualifying onward. Otsu didn’t make forward progress in his opening stint, a desperate gamble to run a long first stint didn’t work out, and the team couldn’t even capitalise on a late switch to wet tyres. 12th place and no points was a sour note to finish the year on.
They were 20 seconds ahead of the Niterra Z of Chiyo and Takaboshi, which was the last car on the lead lap in 13th place.
In GT300, the #52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra of Hiroki Yoshida and Kohta Kawaai won its first GT300 championship title, as the #88 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima won the final race of the season.
Going into the final race, the #52 GreenBrave Supra just needed to finish inside the top ten to clinch the championship, even if the pole-sitting #2 muta Racing Toyota GR86 of Yuui Tsutsumi and Hibiki Taira won the race.
Following up on Saturday’s results, Taira in the #2 muta GR86 led the field to the green flag and held the top spot early on, followed by Motojima in the #88 JLOC Huracán, and Naoya Gamou in the #65 LEON Pyramid Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The creme and navy GR86 didn’t have such an easy time pulling away, however, and Motojima was able to ride with Taira as the rain showers began to fade in and out. After 15 laps in second, Motojima tucked into Taira’s slipstream and pulled to the inside at the last minute, swooping past at turn three to grab the lead. This was a championship-deciding overtake as the muta GR86 needed to win to have any chance at the championship.
Kawaai had been battling hard for fifth place and ultimately settled back into seventh by the time he came into the pits on lap 21. The GreenBrave team opted to take fuel only while changing drivers to Yoshida. On the next lap, the muta GR86 came in and also took fuel only as Tsutsumi relieved Taira.
Meanwhile, the LEON Pyramid AMG and JLOC Huracán changed only the rear tyres and added fuel.
Kogure in the JLOC Huracán emerged with the net lead of the race, but behind him, Takuro Shinohara was running in a net second in the LEON Pyramid AMG. Tsutsumi and the muta GR86 had dropped to third among cars that had pitted, putting him even further out of reach of the championship. The battle for the race lead now became Kogure versus Shinohara.
Kogure left the door open for Shinohara to get by on lap 34 when the Lamborghini brushed against the #50 Anest Iwata Racing Lexus RC F GT3 of Igor Fraga. Shinohara drew alongside but Kogure was able to get on the brakes later into the 90° Corner and hold onto a slim advantage.
This would be as close as Shinohara would get to grabbing the race lead, even as the rain began to fall harder in the final few minutes. Now in a distant third, Tsutsumi brought the muta GR86 in with six laps to go to change to wet tyres. The rain dissipated, and with it, muta Racing INGING’s final push for victory was extinguished.
And the cherry red Lamborghini went on to take the victory, completing 59 laps and winning by a final margin of 7.124 seconds.
It was a landmark first Japanese race win for the new Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, which debuted in SUPER GT this August.
This was the first GT300 class win for Kogure – already a decorated GT500 Champion during his previous life as a Honda works driver, of course – and for Motojima, now in his eighth season. He’d always been regarded as one of the top drivers in the category, and finally, he had the victory to show for it.
And for JLOC, one of SUPER GT’s ever-present teams, it was only their fourth win in history, and their first since the 2019 Fuji 500 Mile Race.
Finishing in second was the #65 LEON Pyramid AMG of Gamou and Shinohara, which bookended the 2023 season with second-place finishes. K2 R&D LEON Racing will have to wait until next year to end its long winless skid.
In third place was the #6 Dobot Audi R8 LMS of Yoshiaki Katayama – who had some impressive battles and overtakes to his name – and Roberto Merhi, who drove superbly in the wet, greasy conditions to make a charge to the final podium position.
A podium in what will likely be the final SUPER GT race for the Audi R8 LMS GT3. Team Le Mans advertised this race as the R8’s “Final Run” and with Audi Sport winding down its customer racing programmes, it feels all but certain they will change vehicles next year.
The #31 apr Lexus LC500h (Kazuto Kotaka/Yuki Nemoto) ran well to finish in fourth place, while the #96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta/Shinichi Takagi) got its best result of the year in fifth. After starting a pitiful 24th, the #56 Realize/Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R (João Paulo de Oliveira/Teppei Natori) came all the way forward to the lead near the end of Natori’s blistering opening stint, and Oliveira held on for a sixth-place finish.
And then, in seventh, Yoshida picked up the chequered flag to secure the GT300 Championship for Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave. The dealer-run team, in its seventh season, finally put it all together for its first championship.
It was the first title for both Yoshida and Kawaai as drivers. In their fourth season as Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave team-mates, Yoshida and Kawaai have now won the GT300 Championship in SUPER GT, and they also won the Super Taikyu ST-Z (GT4) championship with GreenBrave driving a less extreme version of the GR Supra.
Rounding out the top ten were the #18 UPGarage Honda NSX GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi/Syun Koide), the #2 muta GR86 of Tsutsumi and Taira, and the #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi), which was the last car on the lead lap.
Tsutsumi and Taira would consolidate second in the championship ahead of Kondo Racing’s Oliveira and Natori.
The 30th season of the Autobacs SUPER GT Series is now over. Preparations for 2024 have already begun: Already, GT300 teams were able to test a new type of carbon-neutral synthetic blend fuel, while behind the scenes, contracts are being secured for the upcoming season.
It was a turbulent 2023 season at times, but at others, it was sublime – exactly what we’ve come to expect out of Japan’s premier category of sports car racing.
Images © GTA
